How to Start a Coin Laundry Business

Feb 2, 2015

One of the chores that people just have to do on a frequent basis is to wash their clothes. Not everyone has the finances to afford a washer and dryer for their residence and some renters may not even be allowed to have them on the premises. By knowing how to start a coin laundry business, you’ll be providing this community with a needed service that can earn passive income for you around the clock under certain structures.

The first thing you’ll need to do is invest into equipment and a commercial site. You might be able to install coin operated equipment in apartment buildings or other limited locations if you’re short on cash and can only afford a few machines, but the returns will be small as well. Your best business solution would be to have a central community commercial location and several machines so that multiple customers can be served simultaneously.

Here are some additional tips that will also help you get started with your business.

1. Give your place a facelift.

Laundromats used to be dreary places that people would dread having to be every week. Sometimes they were even considered to be unsafe. That has all changed over the last few years thanks to the installation of some fun features. Consider putting in a pool table, a snack bar, television lounges, or even an arcade to compliment your washers and dryers. This will let people have fun, spend more money, and still give you profitability from your coin laundry business.

2. Think about eliminating the coins altogether.

Modern laundry equipment doesn’t even require coins any more. They are built-in with credit card processing equipment so that your customers won’t have to lug around heavy pockets full of change. This will also give your laundry business an added measure of safety because there will be less cash exposed. The one disadvantage that some may see with this setup, however, is that an attendant may need to be on duty in order to service machines that don’t properly read a card for a customer.

3. Add other laundry services to your business profile.

When people think of a laundromat, they think about a full-service entity where all of their clothing needs can be met. Busy professionals might be willing to pay your business to wash, dry, and fold their regular laundry for them so they have more time for work and play. Having dry cleaning services available can help to fill some niche needs a community may have as well. If you can meet most, if not all, of a community’s laundry needs with one-stop service, you’ll secure more of your community’s business.

4. Consider adding a delivery service.

Some people are so busy today that they don’t even see having the time to drop off their laundry at your business. If this fits the demographics of your community, then you may wish to consider adding a laundry delivery service. This would allow you to pick up laundry at their home, wash it and fold it, then deliver it back to their home when it is clean.

A delivery service also gives you the chance to expand into commercial laundry services. Many businesses require uniforms for their employees and the cleanliness of those uniforms, as well as towels and other linens, isn’t an employee responsibility. Your services can help these businesses meet their obligations while maintaining their professional look.

5. Amenities are what make a good experience even better.

You don’t need to add much to your overhead in order to provide some amenities to your coin operated laundry business. Having free Wi-Fi is a minimal investment at best and encourages people to come and work or play while they’re getting their laundry completed. Having a full service food presence instead of snacks is a minimal upgrade to a laundromat as well. You can also become a PO Box host or sell postal supplies to help improve your revenue streams and your customers are going to benefit from having a one-stop shop for many of their chores.

6. It’s always going to come down to the atmosphere that you provide.

People are attracted to a pleasant atmosphere, but it must accommodate their household. Families with small children, for example, are going to be more attracted to a laundromat that has services and options for their children. Giving away coffee is a traditional enticement, but one that still works. Some laundromats have even installed a stage for live music to be playing while people use their coin operated equipment. As long as doing laundry is fun and relatively painless, people will pay a little more to experience a safe, pleasant atmosphere.

7. Now is the time to get involved.

Households are requiring both people to work full-time in order to make ends meet. As the population continues to grow and age, more people are likely to remain renters because of the ongoing housing market concerns that exist. This means that your opportunity to establish a laundry business is perfect right now. Even people with washing machines may run over to your laundromat to knock out some of their extra laundry to get the job done.

8. It is important to remember that the laundry market is a mature market.

Mature markets typically have limited areas of growth. This means you’ll be taking business from another laundromat in your community when you open one of your own. To make sure you can fight off the competition, the best way to set yourself apart is to offer 24/7 attendant services so that every customer need can be met. Great customer service will offset small price increases for a vast majority of consumers.

9. Remember your core customer.

People use laundromats because they want to get this chore completed as quickly as possible. If there are already enough laundromats in your community that make this possible, then it will be difficult to establish a solid customer base. Perform your due diligence on market conditions before investing into this business venture so that you’ll know if a laundromat is a good thing to start.

Knowing how to start a coin laundry business is fairly basic, but keeping that laundromat in business will be a challenge. These tips will help you create a business plan that will give you the best chance possible.

After being physically and mentally disabled by a brain tumor, Brandon overcame the odds to regain his health to help his pregnant wife in her fight against stage 3 breast cancer. A couple of years later he launched his blog. Today over 1 million business owners read his blog every month. Read Brandon's inspirational comeback story here.